The Talking Bulgarian Phrasebook

The Talking Phrasebook Series presents useful phrases and words in side-by-side translation and with audio files specifically geared to help students work on listening skills and pronunciation. Each entry below, divided by category, features an English word or phrase in the left column and its Bulgarian translation in the right.

In the center column for each row is a play button. The recorded file will feature first English, then the Bulgarian in three versions: one slow, one with each syllable broken out, and a last version that will be spoken as it might be overheard in a conversation between native speakers.

Facts About Bulgarian

1. No infinitives. Bulgarian uses no infinitives. Instead, both verbs are conjugated depending on the person. In English, this would look like: She likes writes (meaning, “she likes to write”). In Bulgarian, it looks like this: “Тя обича да пише.”
2. Alphabet pride. Bulgaria is the birthplace of the Cyrillic alphabet. The Bulgarian Empire was the first to adopt the old Slavic Glagolitic script for official state purposes. That script was originally developed by brothers Cyril and Methodius as part of their efforts to spread Christian practices in Slavic lands. In Bulgaria specifically, the Cyrillic alphabet was developed later from the Glagolitic by Naum and Clement, two former students of Cyril and Methodius. Further, many Bulgarians believe that Cyril and Methodius were specifically Bulgarian. (While they were probably Greek and perhaps partly Slavic, the history is not universally agreed upon.) The two are celebrated as national heroes in Bulgaria with an official holiday each May 24.
3. Gender. Bulgarian uses gender (male, female, and neuter) for nouns but has some confusing rules for it. For instance, masculine nouns are typically indicated by a consonant endings: брат (brother), ден (day). However, masculine nouns may take on the feminine – a and -я endings and neuter -о and -е endings when referring to a male person. Such masculine nouns include баща (father), колега (colleague), вуйчо (uncle on mother’s side). Feminine nouns, typically with – a and -я endings, can also likewise end with a constant, e.g. нощ (night), кръв (blood), част (part). Neuter nouns usually end in -о and -е, although they also include foreign words that end in -ю, -у, and -и. For example, действие (action), палто (coat), меню (menu), and уиски (whiskey) are all neuter. The one exception to this is that the months of the year, despite most ending in и, are all masculine. The forms of both adjectives and verbs can change based on the gender on the noun, which means that correctly using gender in Bulgarian is important but quite challenging.
4. Respect. Bulgarian differentiates between informal and formal speech to show respect. When speaking to a single person who you know well (friend, close relative), you use the singular “you” (ти; ti). Meanwhile, if speaking to a stranger or person of respect (teacher, boss, or generally for someone older than you), you use the plural “you” (вие; vie) – even when speaking to a singular person. For example:
   – How are you? Как си ти? (singular “you”, informal): you’re catching up with a relative
   – Как сте вие? (plural “you”, formal): you are a person in your 20s talking to your elderly neighbor
5. Articles. The definite article “the” is added as an extra syllable at the end of a noun or adjective. Scandinavian languages are similar. The type of ending depends largely on gender. If there is an adjective, the definite ending is added to the adjective and omitted from the noun. The definite ending is used even in constructions involving possession, unlike English which does not. The indefinite article “a” is not used in Bulgarian. Here are some examples of singular nouns:
   – Мост (bridge; masculine indefinite); мостът (masculine definite if subject); моста (masculine definite if not subject)
   – Книга (book; feminine indefinite); книгата (feminine definite)
   – Куче (dog; neuter indefinite); кучето (neuter definite)
   HOWEVER, If you use an adjective with the noun, for instance for “the brown dog,” the definite ending would be applied only to the adjective and not the noun, so it would become бялото куче.
6. Asking Questions: Question words in Bulgarian include the following:

• Who: кой (koi)
• What: какво (kakvo)
• Why: защо (zashto)
• Where: къде (kyde)
• How: как (kak)

Survival Basics in Speaking Bulgarian

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Introductions in Bulgarian

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Asking Directions

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Shopping

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Counting

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More on Bulgarian Grammar (Pronoun Focus)

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Below are listed the personal pronouns as they appear in nominative, accusative, and dative.

Nominative

These are used when the subject of the sentence. For example,

I am hungry: Аз съм гладен (az sym gladen)

She loves to travel: Тя обича да пътува (tya obicha da pytuva)

In the nominative, the subject is clearly in the act of doing (e.g. I am drinking, she is dancing), so Bulgarians often omit it. In other words, instead of saying “I am drinking,” Bulgarians will just say “Am drinking” with the “I” being implied.

Accusative (direct object)

These are used when a direct object of a transitive verb. For example,

I love him: Аз го обичам (аz go obicham)

I don’t know him: Аз не го познавам (аz ne go poznavam)

The reflexive “се” (se) used when referring to oneself:

Do you like yourself? Харесваш ли се? (haresvash li se?)

I am getting (myself) ready: Приготвам се (prigotvam se)

Accusative (object of a preposition)

These are used as the object of a preposition. For example,

Are you thinking about it?: Мислиш ли за него? (mislish li za nego?)

I went to the store with her: Отидах до магазина с нея (otidah do magazina c neya).

The reflexive “себе си” (sebe si) used when referring to oneself:

I don’t think much about myself: Не мисля много за себе си (ne mislya mnogo za sebe si)

Dative (indirect object)

These are used when an indirect object. Within the indirect dative, there are two variants. The first is non-emphatic. For example, in the following sentence the focus in on the book:

She gave me the book: Тя ми даде книгата (tya mi dade knigata)

The second variant is emphatic. In other words, emphasis is on a particular person:

She gave the book to me (vs another person): Тя даде книгата на мене (tya dade knigata na mene)

Note that when the dative is non-emphatic, the personal pronoun must appear after the subject.

The reflexive “си” (si) used when referring to oneself:

I will buy (myself) bread: Ще си купя хляб (shte si kupya hlyab)

Dative (possession)

These are used to indicate possession. Dative pronouns are used when the emphasis is on the object being possessed. For example:

This is my dog: Това е кучето ми (tova e kucheto mi)

Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, his, their – this is not dative) are used when the emphasis is on the possessor. These can be seen in sentences such as “This dog is mine” (emphasis is on the dog being “mine” not the dog itself). However, possessive pronouns are used far less frequently than the dative.

Below are the dative pronouns:

The reflexive “на себе си” (na sebe si) used when referring to oneself:

I bought a present (for myself): Купих подарък на себе си (kupih podaryk na sebe si).

Conjugations of “to be”

Notes: In colloquial settings, Bulgarians often omit the pronoun. However, know that when omitting the pronoun, the present form of “to be” cannot start the sentence. Therefore, the following are two ways to say “I am well,” the first with the pronoun and the second without.

Аз съм добре. Az sym dobre.

Добре съм. Dobre sym.

The following table lists the conjugations for the act of being, i.e. when there is no other verb.

How are you? I am well. (Как си ти? Аз съм добре.)
Where will she be? She will be in Burgas. (Къде ще бъде тя? Тя ще е в Бургас.)
Who was there? Dimitar’s kids were there. (Кой беше там? Децата на Димитър бяха там.)

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